Music-holder



(No Model.)

J. E. EASTLAGK.

\ M11310 HOLDER.

No. 391,521. Patented 001;. 23, 1888..

H", i L

I!!! 1!! I 1M! liillii WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT @rrron.

JAMES E. EASTLAOK, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MUSIC-=HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,521, dated October 23, 1888.

Application filed October 8, 1887. Serial No. 251,811. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES E. EASTLACK, of the city of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia,and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Music- Holders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention consists in a simple and portable holder for book and sheet music to hold the latter in any position that may be desired by the player or singer, and which, capable of being carried in the pocket for use as required, is independent of the rack on the instrument or music-stand, or, in other words, is complete in itself, has a divided broad firm hold on the music, does not conceal any portion of the latter from View, and is free from tearing the music, the construction of said holder being substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a blank piece of music as spread open with my improved holder applied. Fig. 2 is a face View of said musicholder, shown separate or as not applied to the music; Fig. 8, a side view of the same, and Fig. 4 a top or plan view thereof.

The music-holder which constitutes my in vention is designed to be applied to the top of the book or sheet music, so as not to interfere with the book-rack or the organ, piano, or other music-stand, connected with or separate from the instrument. Being complete in itselfthat is, independent of the rack-it will be found especially useful to players who have to perform from home, and can be carried in the pocket, if desired.

Said holder is composed in part of a back,-

A, which may or may not have a covering, b, of cloth to keep it from rubbing or defacing the book-rack. Projecting from opposite sides of the face of said back, near its top, are arms or bearing strips 0 c for the working portions of the holder or clamp. Said working or movable portions embrace a presser, B, composed in part of two substantially parallel fingers or rods,d d, arranged to extend down the front of the back A at a suitable distance apart to catch or hold, if desired, onto each exposed leaf of the book or piece of music, and of bent or hook shape at their lower ends, 6, to bite or bear on the music. These fingers or rods (1 d give a wide or spread hold upon the music, and they, or the whole presser, are made of round wire, so that no matter how the holder is applied to the book or sheet music it will hide no part of the same from view. Said fingers d d, which virtually form two independent or separate clamps. are or may be made both of the same piece of wire, and are bent at their upper ends, ff, toward each other to pass freely through the arms 0 o as bearings at what may be termed the hinge-joint-ofthe holder. From these upper end or axial portions, ff, the wire is bent, as at g g, to extend back or above the bearings in the arms a c and inward toward the center of the holder, and thence spread upward and downward or forward again to form an outer thumb or finger rest, It, arranged for operation back of the hingejoint or bearing of the axial portionsff.

A wire spring, 0, serves to hold the presser B closed. This spring, which extends across the holder, is constructed at its ends to engage with or bear against the fixed arms 0 c, then coiled around the axial pivots or portionsff of the presser, and afterward looped or bent back, as at i, to bear against and under the back end portion of the thumb-rest it.

By pressing on the thumb-rest it both clamping'fingers d d will be simultaneously lifted or opened to receive or take out the music.

The thumb rest or handle it is covered with a facing-piece, D, of soft or flexible material. such as a cloth rosette or ribbon bow-to prevent the thumb or finger when applied to the handle h from slipping off and tearing the music or book. The holder, too, being held by the hand, assists in preventing all possibility of tearing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a music-holder, the combination,with a back provided with apertured arms, of clamping-fingers d, composed of a single piece of wire bent at its middle to form a finger-rest, h,

and having its ends bent inward toward and Y resting against the back, and the spring 0,

having its endssecnred to the arms of the back, cured t0 the arms 0 and its central part rest- 10 with its central portion resting against the ing against the finger-piece, and the facingfinger-piece, substantially as herein shown and piece D on the finger-piece, substantially as described. herein shown and described.

2. An improved music-holder consistin of L the back A, provided with the apertured arms JAMES EXSTLAGK' c, the presser B, provided with the fingers d, \Vitnesses: having inwardly-pr0jecting ends 0, the central JOHN FITZPATRICK, finger-piece, h, the spring O,havin g its ends se- HUGH FITZPATRICK. 

